Vision Qwest

Qwest, battling to keep pace with bigger competitors in a rapidly consolidating U.S. telecom industry, plans to make a sweeter bid to buy MCI next week.

Qwest could add as much as $2 per share to its earlier $24.60-a-share bid for long-distance provider MCI, an offer worth more than $8 billion in total. The extra money will come all in cash; as it stands now, Qwest's bid is more than $8 and more than $15 in stock. Qwest is a distant fourth in the full-service telecommunications industry, behind Verizon, SBC and the company...